No B.S. you can be fit over 30

Hi, Casey Stevens from RealFitWomen.com and in this video I just wanted to share with you a blast from my past.

So recently I have been cleaning out my house in preparation for a move and I came across all these old things from when I was a baby to now and I actually came across the first exercise videos that I ever purchased to do at home.

I had obviously done exercise and played sport at school but this was actually the 1st at home downloadable, well, it wasn’t downloadable because we didn’t have the Internet back then, but first at home workout that I purchased and it was actually Billy Blanks Tae Bo workout.

I wonder how many of you out there have this?

So this was Billy Blank’s, a 7 times world martial arts champion, his ultimate total body workout for men and women. So it is four videos. He had the 8 min workout, the advanced workout, the basic and the instructional video.

I remember, maybe I didn’t do them all that often, but over the years I have pulled them out of the cupboard and put them in the player and used them just at various times over the past 10, 15 years.

I can’t actually play them anymore as I don’t own a VCR. But I’m sure it’s still worthwhile doing.

It’s based on martial arts so it’s aerobic kickboxing and apparently Tae Bo was rated as the highest calorie burning workout available today which was 1998.

People still do kickboxing and boxing so it’s all probably still relevant today.

I also came across the first workout that my sister ever purchased. That was the Winsor Pilates body sculpting system. So this is Mari Winsor and she is a pilates instructor. I believe she is sought after, yes, one of the most sought after trainers by the biggest stars and celebrities in Hollywood.

This was dated copyright 2002 by Guthy Renker. So this as well as the Tae Bo was purchased off an infomercial.

And I hate to admit, I did the 20 minute video workout that I couldn’t find this time but I remember doing that, basically every second day for quite a while when I was 22 and I had quite good results especially with the legs and the buttocks area.

So let me know below what your first workout purchase was. Was it one of these oldies but goodies?

In this video I wanted to share a video I came across recently that I made for my birthday party the other weekend.

We all know coconut ice, well I assume you do. So coconut ice looks like this.

It’s usually got sugar, lots of coconut obviously. Copha is in the traditional recipe. Anyway I wanted to come up with some ideas for the party. Recipes that were sugar free, or at least not so much sugar, a little bit healthy but so people could still have party favourites.

I came across this recipe from the Sweeter Life Club which is a website which is run by Natvia which is a brand here in Australia of stevia. Not affiliate with them in any way, just a recipe that I chose to use.

Anyway, in these coconut ice there is coconut, coconut oil, I used pink food colouring and the Natvia which is stevia.

Everybody loved it.

For me it was a little bit bitter perhaps. I don’t know if that’s the right word. I think next time I make it i’ll use a little less stevia just to get the taste right.

So this was a great hit at the birthday party. The kids loved it and the adults did not need to them that there was no sugar in it. They still ate it.

The thing that I loved most about it was when I was looking for a recipe and I just googled coconut ice recipe, the first recipe that came up was from a major recipe site here in Australia and it had 500grams of icing sugar in it and I just thought that was a lot of sugar.

So I’m glad I kept looking and found this recipe. I’ll post the link here: Natvia Coconut Ice

In this video we’re going to discuss a way of introducing better food in to your diet without necessarily taking stuff out. We’re going to discuss the benefits of, at least anecdotally the benefits of getting sun and also the benefits of having a pet.

A technique I have been trying recently is called the Crowding Out Technique. So what that means is ok instead of saying ‘cut out all sugar’, ‘cut out all chocolate’, ‘cut out all cake’, you know ‘no no no’.

Instead it’s about crowding those things out. So having big bowls of vegetables, big bowls of salads and then you can have the chocolate or the cake, but only after you’ve had these big bowls of good food. And I find after having a huge salad for breakfast or a huge of vegetables up until the afternoon when normally I would go and get a cake or a chocolate, I find that because I’m so full and have just eaten so much good stuff that I don’t actually want the chocolate. It’s more of a habit for me to go and get it. So then I can go ‘ok I don’t need to have it today’. So maybe that’s something to try for you.

I know when I say ok you can’t have this I just want to go out and eat all of that thing. So I am finding the crowding out technique to be really effective.

Without getting in to all of the science of the sun and vitamin D and if it’s good for you or bad for you, I personally find that if I’m feeling down or bad or I’m actually sick. For example I’m coming off a pretty bad sinus infection and cold right now, if I go outside and just sit in the sun for 5 or ten minutes I just feel so much better.

And even if I’m not sitting directly in the sun, usually I sit back there up against the fence and get some direct sun light. but even if I’m not in the direct sunlight, just the heat and the warmth of the sun, I just feel that it makes me so much better. Especially when I’m sick it just, I guess, perks me up so maybe next time you’re sick or you’re feeling a bit low, go outside. Either just sit in the sun or read a book, do a bit of gardening or go for a walk. Or just sit there. I can’t just sit there and do nothing, I need something to do but anyway give it a go and see how it works for you.

So I’ve always had pets, dogs specifically, in my life and I just don’t imagine life without them, I can’t imagine life without them. One of the things that I find that can instantly put a smile on my face, whether I’m feeling down or just even if I’m happy, they’ll make me laugh out loud.

Even at 3 o’clock in the morning when the possums are out and these guys are barking their nuts off and I have to come out and yell at them to be quiet they can still make me smile.

I know there’s been studies done about the benefits of pets and I think the studies have been pretty favourable in having pets and I know some people are allergic to them or don’t like them and that’s fine but for me at least, these two guys just make my day. So try having a pet. I’m not sure if you get the same thing with a goldfish or a little reptile but you never know.

Hi it’s Casey Stevens here with RealFitWomen.com and in this Real Fit Women tips video I’m just going to share with you some things you can do around the home to exercise, to get your heart rate up and beating really fast and to start sweating and to start working those muscles that, well, some of them you won’t even know you had.

So today I’ve been shovelling dirt, I’ve been raking dirt, I’ve been moving dirt in a wheel barrow, I’ve been using a rotary hoe. I’ve been using a pick axe. And let me tell you, a pick axe, I didn’t know half of these muscles in my back existed.

And to top it all off I had to move all these wall building bricks here. A whole pallet full and there’s still 3 more pallet fulls to move.

Oh and let’s not forget all of the concrete and the brick over there that we had to dig up and move.

So while this may seem like a lot of work to do just to get in shape, and trust me we’re not doing it just to get fit, there is a purpose here. It’s actually turning out to be really good exercise and I really wasn’t expecting that.

I knew it would be hard and I knew it would be tough but I’m actually feeling stronger and I’m feeling like my muscles are actually getting stronger rather than just lifting weights. I’m actually doing functional exercise.

Anyway, just something to keep in mind. If you want to landscape your backyard, it’s great exercise, just remember to stretch. I haven’t been stretching because I’m going ‘oh it’s not exercise I don’t need to stretch’. Yeah, you need to stretch.

And remember to sunscreen up because I’ve been getting a bit burnt which is not cool at all.

00.22 – Study shows women cannot do chin-ups
01:15 – 49 year old women does 20 chin-ups
01:25 – You can install a chin-up bar in a door frame
01:44 – Take studies with a grain of salt
01:50 – Trying to quit sugar
02:14 – Free 8 week program to follow along to quit sugar
02:33 – Try having just one sugar in your coffee instead of two
03:03 – Peanut butter mousse
03:39 – Ideas for rainy day exercise

Hi this is Casey Stevens with RealFitWomen.com with another Real Fit Women update.

In this video we are going to discuss a study that has proved without a shadow of a doubt that women cannot do chin-ups.

We’re going to discuss quitting sugar, and also a few exercise that you can do inside on days when you don’t want to leave the house.

So first up this week there has been a study circulating the internet from the Dayton University in Ohio . Now this study has proven conclusively that women cannot do chin-ups or pull-ups. The study focused on 17 women of normal shape, whatever that means, and the researchers put the women through a weights program. It was 3 days a week for 3 months and at the end of the time, only 4 women out of the 17 could do one unassisted pull-up.

So that proves it that I may as well give up because being female I’m never going to be able to do a chin-up. Personally I think it’s a bit of a crock. 17 women out of billions on the planet is not statistically significant.

Recently I actually installed a chin up bar. It’s one of the ones that you put in to your door frame and I can do 5 of those assisted, so someone just guiding me and I’m well on my way to doing one unassisted.

So next time you read a study I would dig a bit deeper and maybe just take it with a grain of salt.

There has also been a lot of talk in the media recently about how sugar is actually bad for us, all the added sugars to our foods. I’m a bit of a sugar addict and during the year I purchased an ebook, I think it was $15 called I Quit Sugar from Sarah Wilson. Who is an Australian blogger and nutritionist. Anyway, there is 8 weeks to Christmas and she is putting on a free quit sugar by Christmas program. You just need to sign up to the email list and she’ll guide you through 8 weeks of quitting sugar.

The first week which is this week is just about cutting back. So maybe having one sugar instead of two or just taking all the sugar out of your morning coffee or tea. I’ll put the link below if you’d like to join up. Let me know how you’re going.

And on the quitting sugar, I’m a bit of a dessert freak, so I though I’d make a dessert this week so that it’s in the fridge, it’s easy, it’s there and if I do feel the need to have something sweet or sugary I don’t need to rush out and buy something crap.

It’s looks really disgusting, but it actually tastes really good. I’ve just pulled it out of the fridge so it’s really hard at the moment. It’s actually a peanut butter mousse.

The base is cottage cheese and it’s got Stevia and peanut butter. I also put in some chocolate protein powder because I’m not really a fan of cottage cheese so I wanted to try and mask the taste. It’s really actually quite good. You can taste the cottage cheese so if you don’t like cottage cheese it might not be for you.

Next time maybe try ricotta, because ricotta has still got lots of protein and is good for you but hasn’t quite got the cheesy taste.

On days like today, I’m not sure if you can see, it’s calmed down a bit but its been bucketing down all morning and thundering and lightning so I wasn’t going to go outside to do my exercise today.

Instead I got on to iTunes and I downloaded for, I think it was $3, a 20 minute yoga session of cardio yoga. It was actually quite, it got me moving and got my heart rate up and I also did 10 minutes of squats and lunges. So that was 30 minutes indoors, easy, my hair stayed dry, and I didn’t have to go out and potentially get hit by lightning. Though I’m sure that never actually happens.